Two Portland men accused of running a cocaine smuggling and distribution operation were arrested Sunday night after a phone tap investigation conducted jointly by the FBI and Portland police.

Nelson Calderon, 44, and Mustafa Hassan, 33, appeared in U.S. District Court in Portland on Monday to face one charge each of conspiracy to distribute cocaine. Magistrate Judge John H. Rich III ordered them both held temporarily pending detention hearings later this month.

Investigators tracked text messages between the two men starting in January, deciphering the codes they used to determine amounts of drugs and the locations Calderon was selling hard cocaine and powdered cocaine to Hassan to distribute, according to an affidavit filed with the court by Daniel Hondo, a Portland police officer assigned to an FBI task force.

After intercepting more text messages between the men Sunday evening in which Hassan allegedly arranged to buy a half-ounce of crack and a half-ounce of powdered cocaine, officers conducting undercover surveillance outside Calderon’s West End apartment watched him leave from the rear of 44 Salem St., Hondo wrote.

Shortly thereafter, officers pulled over a black Lincoln sedan that Hassan was driving with Calderon in the passenger seat and placed them under arrest. Calderon had a little more than a half-ounce each of powder and crack cocaine on him and $1,200 in cash. Hassan had $283 in cash, according to Hondo’s affidavit.

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John

Guy had a half pound of Cocaine. HALF POUND!

shredder1

469 grams is over a pound and over a quarter pound of crack on top of that!

lost sheep

“investigation conducted jointly by the FBI and Portland police.”

Feds involved? Is this random or the start of a trend? Wheres the rest of this story?

pleasepost

Who cares how they were caught, hope neither see the light of day again !!

guest

Protecting people rights is much bigger then 1 drug dealer going to prison. Hopefully its all on the up and up, but being skeptical is healthy

lost sheep

Well it would scare dealers if the FBI came to town.

guest

Wheres the rest of this story?

the NSA will declassify it in 60 years

lost sheep

lmao

BMM

Google – United States of America v. Nelson Calderon, et al. Appears to be the same person.

Latin Kings. Just what Maine needs. Maybe the Governor is correct.

CleanUpME

These scumbags should be put to death. They’re waste of air.

unclejunebug

This is great news, Portland now has a vacant basement apartment for rent,
every bit will help in this rental crisis.
(code compliant basement apt. is another story)